 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Hello, my name is John Bishop, I live in Tucson, Arizona.
Most of you know me by my internet login name Pope_John_1999. I was
diagnosed in 1998 and felt my life was over, but after I had spent many
hours researching the disease, I began to see that Cancer and Death were not
synonymous. You should come and visit with me and my friends on Yahoo's
cancer chat room, we are there every day to provide comfort and information
on all types of cancer. You will find in this room the warmest, friendliest,
and most caring people you will ever meet. OK, enough of this, let me tell
you my story:
I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in '98. I started having urinary
problems in about April of that year, and thought I had passed a kidney
stone or at the least had a urinary tract infection. I contacted a urologist
that I had seen about a year before on another matter. He listened to me,
had me give them a sample for testing, and then proceeded to do a digital
exam. He explained that he could feel a firmness there that was not right,
and told me we should do a blood test called a PSA test (Prostate Specific
Antigen).
They drew the blood and I went home still hurting. The doctor called and
said my PSA was a little high (4.2) and that I should schedule an ultra
sound biopsy of my prostate gland. He performed the biopsy on July 7th and
called me at home on July 10th and gave me the bad news. We scheduled a
meeting for the next Monday, the 13th, the 11th was our anniversary and we
had planned a weekend out of town, needless to say, it was not a happy
weekend. On Monday he told us that he felt there was no other option except
surgery and he would be glad to schedule it in about 3 weeks. He said my
Gleason score was 8, 5+3. He scheduled a bone and CT scans for the next
week.
I was devastated. I had lost my best friend to lung cancer just 6 months
before, I was sure I was dead. It took me a week to get rid of the denial
and face facts, OK so I had cancer, I was not the first and would not be the
last. I decided to fight back by finding out everything I could about
prostate cancer. I read, I explored the net, and I talked to another
urologist about options and found out there are more options for prostate
than any other type of cancer.
I made an appointment with a radiologist/oncologist to talk about
radiation. My oncologist said that my cancer had been there for over 5
years. My company has watts lines and they allowed me to use them to call
doctors out of state. I spoke to doctors in San Diego, in Los Angeles, and
in Seattle about the treatments they could do.
Finally, I and my new urologist made the decision on the type of
treatments I would have. Hormone therapy to shrink the tumor and radiation
therapy to kill the cancer cells. We made that decision together and then I
never looked back, you can not allow yourself to second guess your decision.
We decided that if my cancer ever came back, we would look at new and
different types of hormone therapy.
I have been off radiation for a year and off hormones for 6 months and
my PSA is still undetectable. To say I am pleased would be the
understatement of the year. After one year of no PSA, you can say your
cancer is in remission, after five years, you can say it is dead. I am
waiting for January 19, 2004.
In September, 2000, my PSA count started going back up. My cancer was
back. My urologist and I sat down and looked at newer treatment options and
decided to go back on Zolodex hormone therapy in order to starve the cancer
into remission once again. Well it is now August, 2001, and my cancer is
back under control. Not in remission but under control, I am still taking
hormone therapy and still having the terrible side effects: hot flashes,
night sweats, and I cry at movies. I certainly understand what you ladies go
though with menopause.
My e-mail address is : [email protected]. Send me an
e-mail, I love to talk...
Yahoo ID: pope_john_1999